The 6 things I’d do Differently if I was Born Again
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I’ve learned more in the last two years than I did in 18 years of schooling because I discovered a love and passion for reading and autodidactism. I consume a new book every week relating to any and every subject that captures my attention.
Instead of relying on other people to define the curriculum that I should follow I allowed my inquisitive nature and curiosity to propel me forward. I’ve learned about quantum mechanics, Theodore Roosevelt and the evolution of man in the last month while supplementing that with some of Russia’s most fabled works of fiction.
Fail More
We fail to recognize the opportunity we are afforded when we are young to fail and make mistakes. We mistakenly assume that failure is fatal and stop taking risks. We even stop asking questions for fear of judgment or other people thinking we are stupid. We drift through life aimlessly between experiences striving for perfection instead of learning from failure and coming back stronger.
Youth is the safety net that provides you the opportunity to dream. Children should be encouraged to take more risks when they are young because it endows them with the ability to dream for the rest of their lives.
Never Settle
Settling is easy, we’ve all done it. Instead of living the life we love we live the life that others expect us to. We see what everyone else is doing and want that instead of trusting ourselves to find true happiness. Humanity has evolved to cultivate lives where certain milestones must be ticked off by certain ages otherwise people start to ask questions.
Our parents ask us when we are settling down or when they will have grandkids before we have even discovered who we are. If we are in a relationship marriage is expected, if we are married why don’t we have kids? We succumb to pressure and let other people craft our lives based on the way people have always lived.
Instead of paying attention I should have broken free and escaped to become myself. I’d have been braver allowing me to be bolder and settle my insatiable appetite for exploration.
Remain Naive
On holiday at playgroup we willingly make friends with children irrespective of gender, creed, color or religious beliefs. We are confident in who we are and allow others to see and experience our idiosyncrasies. Children aren’t put off by the scale of the world or the size of the problems we face. Instead, they boldly march into the middle of the playground and embrace all children like family sharing their toys and views of with reckless abandon and lack of judgment for what others believe.
How much better would the world be if we didn’t grow out of our own selflessness nature and mature into beasts governed by greed and skepticism?
Instead, I wish we all remained naturally predisposed to assume peoples good intentions instead of judging and act according to what we assume.
Ask More Questions
Somewhere along the road of life we stop asking as many questions and the quality and volume of our knowledge is detrimentally affected. We have all sat in classrooms where at the end of a lecture the professor requests questions only to be greeted with silence. What do we have to lose?
Even if someone refuses to answer we are in no worse a position than we were before we asked. The same applies to asking love interests out on a date or an acquaintance for advice. The worst possible outcome is that they say no, big deal. To receive more we must ask more. We must put ourselves out there and chase the information, experiences and relationships we desire otherwise life will be dictated to us instead of us being the protagonists of our own story.
Compliment More
I rarely express my gratefulness even when it is overwhelming. If I have a great meal I never pass my compliments on to the chef, if I have a great experience I never thank the organizer, if I have a great day with my parents I never tell them I love them. The only time I feel grateful for the things I have is when something negative happens and I realize how lucky I am.
The last time I told my mother I loved her was when she assisted me through a particularly challenging personal issue, not after a blissful Christmas day where she catered to the whole family and lavished us all in gifts and affection.
We take the good times for granted and assume they will continue forever and pay no attention to our good fortune. We appear ungrateful and unappreciative of the tremendous effort other people make to enrich my lives.I’d have spent more time thanking my teachers for imparting their wisdom on me, my mentors for lifting me up and my family for cultivating the man I have become.
